Anthony Parrish
Anthony Parrish serves as secretary of Nessie Foundation. He is an owner of Parrish Manor Manufactured Housing Community and is a native of Smithfield, NC. Anthony was active in the local Boy Scout Troop in Smithfield and attended Appalachian State University; graduating in 1997 with a BA in Industrial Technology. Anthony is employed with PCX Corporation and currently serves as an Application Engineer. Anthony is an active member of the Garner Lions Club and currently serves as an officer on the Garner Lions Club Board. Anthony currently resides in Raleigh.

Peter Skillern
Peter Skillern is the Executive Director of Reinvestment Partners, a nonprofit agency that uses social entrepreneurship and advocacy for corporate responsibility to realize its mission of promoting and protecting community wealth.
Under Skillern’s leadership the agency has created, produced and distributed Nuestro Barrio, a Spanish language telenovella that provides financial education in a soap opera format. The television series is commercially successful and has had national distribution with availability in 50 million households. The agency owns shares in 50 financial institutions for the purpose of asset growth and shareholder advocacy to promote fair lending practices. More than $40 billion of lending commitments to low income communities has been secured as a result of the agency’s work. Skillern’s exposure in the media involves radio interviews including National Public Radio, numerous television appearances, and coverage in more than 250 print outlets including USA Today and the New York Times. Skillern is a member of the Eisenhower Fellowship and as the United States representative to the program’s International Advisory Council he has studied political, economic and cultural systems in Ireland, Mexico, Turkey and Singapore with a focus on the cross disciplinary aspects of social change. He is also a William Friday Fellow for Human Relations, a leadership program based in North Carolina. Skillern graduated with Highest Honors from the University of California at Santa Cruz and earned a Masters in City and Regional Planning with a specialization in Real Estate Development with the Kenan Flagler School of Business at UNC Chapel Hill. He co-authored the book, Too Much Month at the End of the Paycheck: Payday Lending in North Carolina in partnership with the UNC Center for Community Capitalism. He produced This is My Home: Manufactured Housing Challenges and Opportunities published by Carolina Academic Press. Skillern has written numerous policy pieces on housing, community development and financial issues. Prior to his current position, Skillern worked with the National Low Income Housing Coalition and was the Executive Director of the Durham Affordable Housing Coalition where he raised and packaged millions of dollars for affordable housing development. Skillern’s work has won regional and national awards including: the City of Durham’s Affordable Housing Award; the News and Observer Tarheel of the Week; the National Fair Housing Alliance Award for Outstanding Contribution to Civil Rights; the National Community Reinvestment Coalition James Rouse Award for Exemplary Contribution to Economic Justice.

Brad Lovin
Brad currently serves as the Executive Director of the North Carolina Manufactured and Modular Homebuilders Association.(NCMHA). NCMHA is a non- profit trade association who’s mission is to protect and promote the factory built housing industry in North Carolina. NCMHA also advocates for good public policy that balances the public interest and the industry’s interest. During his 12 years at NCMHA, Brad has been active in working on ventures such as the Raleigh Urban Design Project, which won the prestigious Sir Walter Raleigh award in 2001 for outstanding contribution toward enhancing the city’s beauty. He has served as the Chairman of the National Manufactured Housing Executives Council, as President of the North Carolina Young Lobbyist Association, and is a board member of the Association Executives of North Carolina and NC Joint Underwriters. In 2009, Brad was awarded the State Executive of the Year by the Manufactured Housing Institutes. A native of Rockingham, NC, Brad Lovin has worked in many facets of local and state government. A graduate of Appalachian State University in Boone, NC with a BS in Public Administration and Political Science, Lovin has worked at the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety Department as well as with the North Carolina Secretary of State.

Courtney A. Crowder
Courtney Crowder, a Raleigh native, is an alumnus of North Carolina Central University earning degrees in both English Literature and French. At Duke University, he completed a master’s degree in Liberal S tudies . He also studied history, politics and society at University of Oxford in England. Professionally, Mr. Crowder worked as a District Representative in Congressman Bob Etheridge’s office in Raleigh. Crowder, from 2003 until 2006, served as the Legislative Liaison for the NC Department of Insurance and Special Assistant to Commissioner Jim Long. Crowder then joined Capstrat, Incorporated, a Raleigh (NC)-based strategic consulting firm prior to joining the administration of Governor Bev Perdue. In December 2008, Courtney was appointed by Governor Perdue to serve as Legislative Director. Deeply involved in the community, Courtney rolls up his sleeves for a wide range of causes, including public safety, affordable housing, the arts, and the state’s election system.

Tia McLaurin

Tia McLaurin serves as the development officer for the Kenan Fellows Program. In this role, she is responsible for raising awareness and funds for the Kenan Fellows Program. Ms. McLaurin has served as the development and alumni relations director for Leadership North Carolina and as the director of corporate and community partnerships for Boys & Girls Clubs. She is a graduate of NC State University, holding a B.A. in Sociology and currently completing her M.A. in Network Science.